Rookie 4th round pick Skyler Green might push Crayton for playing time, but he was really drafted to return kicks which is where he excels.  Green didn’t play alot in college at receiver, because LSU had better players than him.  At LSU, Green played in 44 games (12 starts) and caught 111 passes for 1,129 yards (10.2 avg) and 9 TDs.

Jason Hatcher was a huge reach here by Jerry Jones and Bill Parcells.  Many publications didn’t even list him as a draftable player.  Hatcher played at Grambling State and will need an adjustment period to the NFL’s speed.  He likely will back up Greg Ellis his first year, and then we’ll see where he goes from there.

Hatcher has nice size (6’6″, 283) and natural strength, but this was a big reach this early in the draft.

Anthony Fasano is a tough receiver that likes to go over the middle.  He runs hard, but not fast (4.8 40).  He is not a great blocker, but is a willing one.  Fasano should be on the field in all the two tight end sets that the Cowboys run, and should be a contributor to the offense this season.

At Notre Dame, Fasano played in 34 games (24 starts) and caught 92 passes for 1,112 yards (12.1 avg) and 8 TDs.

 

Jason Witten is a fine pass-catching tight end.  He has good speed and hands.  Witten has caught 153 passes the last two seasons.  Witten has played in 47 games (38 starts) and has caught 188 passes for 2,084 yards (11.1 avg) and 13 TDs.

Anthony Fasano, the second round pick from Notre Dame, is a big target that lacks speed.  He has good hands and will catch anything thrown to him, but he won’t run away from anyone.

Terrell Owens might be a pain in the neck, but I think Drew Bledsoe and Bill Parcells will keep him in line and return him to the throne of best receiver in the league.  Owens can do it all, he has speed, good hands and power.  The other teams in the division cringed when he signed with the Cowboys (especially the Eagles) because they will each have to deal with him twice.  Owens has 6 1,000+ receiving seasons and has caught 13 or more TD passes five times in his career.  Owens has played in 142 games (128 starts) and has caught 716 passes for 10,535 yards (14.7 avg) and 101 TDs.  He also has rushed 25 times for 159 yards (6.4 ypc) and 2 TDs.

Terry Glenn is happy to have been re-united with Drew Bledsoe.  Glenn looked like a new man last season and will benefit from the single coverage that will come his way with Owens on the other side.  Glenn has three 1,000+ yard seasons in his career.  Glenn has played in 121 games (113 starts) and has caught 523 passes for 7,776 yards (14.9 avg) and 38 TDs.  He also has rushed the ball 17 times for 128 yards (7.5 ypc) and a TD.

Patrick Crayton is currently listed as the #3 receiver, but he needs to start producing to keep the job.  Crayton has played in 19 games (zero starts) and has caught 34 passes for 503 yards (14.8 avg) and three TDs.

Rookie 4th round pick Skyler Green might push Crayton for playing time, but he was really drafted to return kicks which is where he excels.  Green didn’t play alot in college at receiver, because LSU had better players than him.  At LSU, Green played in 44 games (12 starts) and caught 111 passes for 1,129 yards (10.2 avg) and 9 TDs.

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The last few seasons the Cowboys have been burning through kickers like there’s no tomorrow.  The Colts’ bad luck is the Cowboys gain.  Vanderjagt missed a FG that would have tied the playoff game against the Steelers and sent the game to overtime.  Thus, the all-time leading kicker in FG accuracy was jettisoned out of Indianapolis and replaced with one of the greatest clutch kickers of all time, Adam Vinatieri.

Vanderjagt has connected on 87.5% of his career field goals and has averaged 7.96 points per game.

Parcells has always liked having a clear #1 running back and feeding him the rock.  He likes the way Julius Jones runs and it’s easy to see why.  Jones runs with good pad level and he’s fast.  The problem is his threshold for pain isn’t very high and it drives the Tuna mad.  Jones has played in 21 games (19 starts) the last two seasons, and he has rushed for 1,812 yards (4.0 ypc) and 12 TDs.  Jones also has caught 52 passes for 327 yards, but no touchdowns.

Marion Barber is a tough runner.  He could push Jones for the starting job if Jones keeps frustrating the Tuna.  Barber appeared in 13 games last season (2 starts) and rushed for 538 yards (3.9 ypc) and 5 TDs.  He also has caught 18 passes for 115 yards.

Tyson Thompson is the wild card here.  Parcells loves the way this guy plays the game.  Last pre-season he virtually had no shot to make the team, but he forced his way onto the roster.  Last season he played in 15 games (no starts) and rushed for 182 yards.  He also caught 3 passes for 16 yards.  Thompson was the teams’ primary kick-off returner, but this season he should get some more carries.

On October 8th of this season I see the Cowboys rolling into Philly and T.O. putting up a monster game.  The Cowboys have covered the last three times these teams have played and the Cowboys got much better in the off-season, while the Eagles didn’t really improve that much.  I see the Cowboys jumping on the Eagles early and McNabb throwing some picks trying to catch up because he doesn’t have any receivers anymore.